Sussex Yacht Club Spring Series 2009. Race One - 8 March
Four boats braved the rough seas and 20 knot westerly on Sunday morning for the first Spring Series 2009 race. If the sun hadn't been shining I suspect most of my motley crew of Jason, Nigel, Maggie, Daff and Rob would have ignored my summons by text and burrowed under duvets (and a very special award for sailing beyond the call of duty goes to Suzy Large who turned up to race despite being more than a little broken after an all night session partying as a Cow Girl).

With halyards rattling as we made our way out to sea via the newly opened Prince George Lock we were all acutely aware of the forecast that said a lot of bad things were going to happen a few hours after the 10.10 start, so it was with some relief that OOD Will Camp and his Highland Daughter beach crew got us away on time with a course designed to test our rusty heavy-weather skills.

Plucky Ghylly had come out to play but I suspect that realising the length of the course Will had set, and the almost certain lack of water on their river mooring by the time they could finish, they had to retire which is a great shame. For the rest of us, and that meant Barda, Sharkbite (aka Bathstore), Kingfisher and Yesitis, we punched into the rising seas from the old fort line towards Beachams.

Barda rounded first, closely followed by Yesitis and then Kingfisher onto the run east down to number 5 off Hove's "Millionaire Row", with the stiff breeze pushing every seam on our medium weight kite. I must have been carried away trying to avoid a broach because I forgot all about the foul tide on our nose and although we kept the spinnaker pulling hard all the way, Yesitis didn't fly a kite but by hugging the slack shoreline arrived at mark 5 only a few lengths behind us (see picture).

Sharkbite had made up all their losses up the beat with an asymmetric sleigh ride, though we did notice a hairy gunnels in the water drama unfolding just before they got round 5 in the lead. In all fairness Barda had also made a total hash of our first gybe of the season on this leg, dropping our kite in the water and we were lucky to escape without breaking something big.

Next came a beat out to number 4 and if the downhill leg had lulled us into thinking that the wind strength was easing, this leg showed that things were in reality getting tougher. Pounding into waves is not an SB3's forte and it didn't take long for Barda to settle into a groove close on the breeze and wiggle through, also managing to hold off Yesitis which was threatening all the time from just a few metres back. At mark number 4 Barda rounded in first and after a few minutes corrected a nav error that would have taken us to the East mark, which was not the correct course. Heading deeper and surfing up to 12.5 knots we raced down to sewer mark 6 and after a few minutes hardening up on the breeze, tacked away. Yesitis was all over us and we had a royal duel past the harbour entrance and along the beach to the Lancing line finish.

All the while the wind was building and by the time Barda took line honours, just in front of Yesitis, the soggy souls on Sharkbite and Kingfisher had to endure increasingly testing conditions. We were all pleased to get back into the lock, not to say the clubhouse where we watched, beer in hand , as the forecast foul weather with a gust to 45.8 knots whistled past (picture shows us damp but happy after the finish).

So first IRC blood goes to Barda - Click here for results on the SYC website

Sussex Yacht Club Spring Series 2009. Race Two - 15 March

Warm dry sunshine arrived as forecast on the back of a high pressure system spinning its way east with a whispering NW breeze. With such glorious conditions it was no surprise to find a much bigger fleet out to play, including a couple of the Sailability Sonars. In fact with an amazing fifteen boats heading for the start line off of Shoreham Beach, that there was no room in the first lock out for us and we had to endure (!) another round of tea and pain au chocolat whilst waiting for a second cycling.

Nick and Tim of the J24 Major Clanger were on beach duty and they kindly gave us latecomers a chance to straighten ourselves out by delaying the start to 12.20. Using standard SYC race course 32 our first leg from the start was out to the East mark, which from the Lancing line is not very far at all, and although the angles suggested we could fly our Code Zero, the amount of additional fannying around for perhaps and extra knot of boatspeed over fetching with our number one genoa just wasn't worth it, so we just picked a mid-line spot that would deliver a hot angle. As an added bonus it was apparent that Yesitis had decided on similar tactics, so with just a few seconds to go we rolled over the top of them and accelerated for the line giving them a satisfying dose of dirty air.

The start was good for Barda, though Neil on Dragonfly did get caught OCS. I was very happy indeed to arrive at the first mark in the lead and Jason, Nigel, Rob and Maggie were doing Barda and myself proud, hiking hard into the gusts as we climbed up on the beat towards mark 3. The wind seemed to be bending round to the west a bit, so we tacked off quite early and playing these tactics did seem to pay, though I noted with some dismay that Yesitis was definitely pointing a lot better than they have done on previous tousles. Even when we maxed out the main and went for height rather than speed they were always close.... But not close enough as we retained the lead around the top mark and popped our big kite downhill to number 1, aka Del Buoy.

It's worth mentioning here for other First Class 10 owners that today was our trial of a nifty bit of go-faster kit, comprising a small block high on the back stay through which runs a 1.5 meter length of bungy tied off to each of our runners - you can see the bungee running horizontally in the opposite picture. This £2 improvement keeps the lazy runner from snagging on the gybing boom which has been a nightmare for us in the past... we even had to let Sharkbite through once when we were reaching close to a broach knowing that a snarled runner was stopping us dumping the main any further.

However back to the race and we rejoin during a very hot debate aboard Barda as my team were all pointing at a mark that I was sure was just too far west, and sure enough after adding the GPS numbers to my argument we picked out the correct mark lying low in the water to the east of our course. To be frank looking at the angles this didn't do us any harm at all as we gybed and picked up the pace. Yesitis and a few other camp followers gybed to follow suit so we weren't alone in mistakenly picking up on one of the orange dinghy markers laid by the dinghy sailors.

Approaching number 1, still holding off Yesitis, we pulled off a clean drop gybe and hardened up on another beat back to number 3, tacking through the fleet still coming downhill. Once again Yesitis was pushing us hard all the way and got ahead at one point, though we picked up a couple of good lifts that delivered us back into the lead. This was turning into a real fight. The only consolation was that Sharkbite (pictured) were not enjoying the lighter airs.

Downhill again and we hoisted and then gybed, heading north and almost dead downwind for the old sewer mark. Yesitis pushed further east before gybing and had clearly got the better downwind speed. In retrospect we could have focused on the trim a bit more on this leg and with the tide now pushing us west I was having to go deeper and deeper to hold the rhumb line which really didn't help our speed. Yesitis however played a blinder and wiggled through into the lead, dropping very cleanly and rounding number 6 around 30 metres in front of us.

Covered in dirty air we had no choice but to tack away to the south before tacking west again and chasing after Yesitis. We did make up some ground on this leg and for a while hoped they would have to tack away for water as they sailed along the beach, but the wind lifted us both around 300 meters from the finish line and they took our scalp by 29 seconds. Well done Yesitis (that should be read through clenched teeth). Running back along the beach we passed Highland Daughter charging along the beach at which point I passed the helm to Nigel and pulled out the camera (see pica above). Nigel then did a Crazy Ivan wiggle that nearly had me and the camera over the side - swine!

Once the handicaps had been tapped out back at the club Yesitis had indeed taken us on PY, but we retained first under IRC. Yesitis are still waiting for their 2009 rating, but even if they get a 3 point lift on their 2008 rating then we still hang onto our second bullet of the series... which is nice.

Apologies for not talking much about the other boats in this race, but Yesitis was giving me such a hard time that there wasn't much opportunity for gawping around, and if I had pulled out the camera before crossing the finish line my crew would have had a fit.

Click here for results on the SYC website

Sussex Yacht Club Spring Series 2009. Race Three - 22 March

Spring in Sussex can be a fickle mistress, a bit like the crazy woman you’ll find in every village who turns, without warning, from an inviting and warm hearted angel into a harpy so full of vitriol that oak hearted men shrink away. Today however, despite warnings of gale filled madness later in the week, the lady of spring awoke in fine spirits, blowing a warm and light northerly over Shoreham, which as every local sailor knows means flat water and shifty airs off the land.

Today was not only race day but also mothering Sunday and family duties had hit Barda, with Maggie off to see her parents in Tunbridge Wells and orders from various knicker wearing admirals ashore to back on our mooring in time for family gatherings. Nigel was also away in Venice with Jane, and disappointed with his poor holiday planning, he was instructed as a forfeit to obtain for the boat an ‘exotic’ magazine from the city of water, featuring at least one gondola, a task which we feel should keep him busy in so many ways.

Knowing we were a bit short on hands and with his usual ride ‘Ella’ in pieces as Graham prepares her for the Mediterranean, Doug Beanlands offered his services to Barda and I welcomed him aboard in an instant (pictured before the start). A veteran of SYC, Doug was my first skipper and helped lure me off the dinghies with a season aboard his previous boat ‘Cloud Nine’. Doug and Sandra (who also happens to be Jason’s mum) spend much of the year cruising the French canals, though from the way in which Doug coveted Barda’s tiller before and after the race it won’t be too long before his name appears in the racing list again.

Once out of the locks and listening to Alan Saunders on the beach as OOD, we shot the breeze a few times during the starting sequence and noticed some huge shifts coming through, at one point moving through 20 degrees in 10 minutes. Alan had set a reachy start so we elected a mid-line crossing, flying the kite on a port tack out to the east mark.

Looking ahead as the gun went I appeared to have massively misjudged the start with Yesitis and Sharkbite getting the jump on us, though with some relief I heard a recall and Sharkbite turned back... more of that recall was to come later.

My start was so poor that I found myself having to work my way through slower boats including Ghylly, who had obviously been paying far more attention to the time than myself. Playing catchup we managed to close a bit of distance on Yesitis who had by now sorted out a wine-glass spinnaker problem and were powering out to the distant mark number 3. The wind was a bit puffy and Barda, Truant and Highland Daughter snaking all over the rhumb-line making the most of the shifts and fighting not to be covered.

With the boats so close there was a lot of chatter going on and our request for the other chaps to soak down 5 degrees please was met with much laughter and nudging up.

Meanwhile Yesitis was stretching away and Sharkbite was making the most of the angles going out to the west and gybing in towards 3 where we all seem to arrive at once. Much hollering ensued and we jockeyed for space, gybing round to head NE for the mark number 4.

On Barda Rob dropped the pole down eased the guy forwards to try and hold the kite, trimmed by Doug, on a reach for as long as possible and we found ourselves heading very low of the mark in company with Truant whose big shouldered running kite wouldn’t fly as close to the wind as our own. We were close to overpowered on this reach, but with the main twisted off we managed to ooch our way up in the lulls and appeared to be overhauling Yesitis, far to windward of us on the rhumb line with only white sails up.

Truant eventually dropped their kite and went for white sails, hardened up for the mark and passing astern of us, whilst we held onto the kite for another 500 metres before also dropping and turning up for the mark, where we had to give room to Highland Daughter (pictured with what we think is a new and very yellow spinnaker). Sharkbite was now pressuring Yesitis with a dispute over water, but everybody clambered round, with Barda choosing to tack after Truant for clear air.

The long beat back up the coast toward the East mark was an interesting leg with not only the big shifts but also a dinghy course laying in our path. Playing the shifts up this leg it seemed we were all fairly well matched, but the superior pointing and speed upwind of the HOD 35 'Truant' put them well ahead. Sharkbite and Yesitis elected to go inshore of the dinghy race whilst a glimpse of Truant far ahead showed them in a massive lift, so off I went in pursuit. However Truant had actually sailed into a localised hole and were simply spinning around trying find some wind, which was exactly what we found ourselves doing a few minutes later.

Inshore however, the breeze stood firm for Yesitis and Sharkbite who finally led us around the east mark by a very long way. Up with the kite we set off after the pack looking for mark number 1. The wind was definitely dying so rather than break out the chocolate we went for some extra effort downwind with all hands helping Jason with a change of headsail from the #2 to the lightweight #1, a swop that was completed just before reaching the mark, having climbed much closer to both Yesitis and Sharkbite.

The beat was back down to the east mark again and in the flat water the SB3 Sharkbite was sailing so high that I couldn’t roll over them, and in fact had no wish to tangle with them as they had already beaten us on IRC handicap. My target was Yesitis and we chased them all the way, eventually managing to pip them round the east mark for the fetch home to the Lancing line. At one point we were so totally focused on Yesitis that we didn’t spot the right of way boat Truant crossing on starboard and we could have been in big trouble if it had been any closer - it was a lesson in looking around rather than just focusing on tell tails.

Yesitis were hounding us all the way from the East mark to the line and it was with some relief when O.O.D. Alan on the beach called ‘Barda finished’ over the VHF. Yesitis flicked over just behind us only to find that they had raced in vain - there was no finish for them as they had been called over the line OCS at the start... They looked totally gutted and they have my sympathies.

So after a truly fantastic morning afloat we gathered on the SYC balcony in Shoreham to rerun the race over a few beers and I finally tottered off home, full of Sussex ale and happy with a 2nd place IRC result.

However Barda now has a big Spring Series problem with Jason and Rob flying off to do a regatta in the Caribbean, plus Nigel and Daff being called away. So goodness knows who I’ll be press-ganging for Barda service next weekend.

Click here for results on the SYC website

Sussex Yacht Club Spring Series 2009. Race Four - 29 March

Jason and Rob had this week abandoned Barda to skive off to the caribbean with Dave Ramus to race Tony Watson's O'Day 40 'Glass Slipper' in the 2009 BVI Spring Regatta. I shall be keeping an eye on how they do online - England expects and all that...(http://www.bvispringregatta.org).

However the absence of two key players and the fact that Maggie had also abandoned ship to gallivant around the bars of Barcelona with a contingent of rampant SWAG's, left me a bit short on crew. In fact it was just me in a stupid woolly hat along with Nigel and Daff who slipped Barda's lines in the spring sunshine and made for the 10.00am lock out of Shoreham port, along with no less than 15 other starters. Even the long absent Ella was out for the first time, wearing a very stylish grey paint job after her little contretemps with Chiron back in the Autumn (pictured below).

The breeze was yet another light northerly, but by the time we were hoisting the main the wind had moved round to the west and kept going until it reached the SW, from where it fidgeted about with some interesting shifts coming through.

The first leg off the Lancing Line start was to the east mark, which presented a quandary. If we started at the far end at the ODM then we might be able to carry the kite or code zero, but with only three of us aboard and such a short leg it seemed like tempting fate, especially with a spring tide pushing us towards the line. Instead we elected to stay simple but sail a bit further from the middle of the line, and rely on our big #1 genoa to power us on a fetch to the east mark where we would then head out to sea on the first beat.

Nigel and I were both worried about our positioning on the line and I'm still unsure how close were, but the fact that I found myself parked up in bad air coming off Mean Feeling suggests that we were a tad late (the image below is of Ghylly and the rest of the SYC fleet making their way out to the start line off shoreham beach).

With all boats away cleanly I wiggled up over the top of Mean Feeling and we settled Barda down on the fetch, which became closer and closer as the wind shifted further round to the south. This was great for Barda as we simply sheeted in a little, but for those who'd gone for the spinnaker option this was not a good shift. Keeping reasonable pace we glided up to the east mark to round in 2nd behind Truant, where Steve seemed to be trying to do everything for his crew who were mostly new to the boat.

Looking windward there were big holes in the breeze and like Truant we elected to quickly tack to the west. Nigel and Daff (pictured reviewing the course before the start) worked the car and sheets to get the best height/speed out of the genoa and from there onwards we tried sailing the shifts with anywhere between 5 and 10 degrees triggering a tack.

It might have been a painfully slow climb up towards mark three which was 2.3nm distance as the gull flies, but we were all enjoying it immensely, especially as we seemed to be gaining on the HOD 35 Truant. Not quite so much fun was glancing back at our nemesis, the SB3 Sharkbite that, like a really irritating terrier, just kept snapping away at our heels.

Approaching the windward mark I realised that the last few tacks had been out of step with the shifts and we'd given away a bit of ground, allowing Truant to get round in front of us. In fact they had rounded the mark to starboard and immediately gone into a slow gybe leaving them virtually parked right in my way. Barda had to jink right around their transom, then hard left to miss the mark and then hard right again to get round; we cleared this unexpected slalom with inches to spare and noticed with some horror that Sharkbite was now very close indeed.

With Jason well out of shouting range in the Caribbean the kite went up in a world of peace and quiet. In fact it was surprisingly easy, and we soon settled down trying to keep the pace downhill even though we were trying to sail as deep as we could. Out on our port side Sharkbite was sailing a much hotter asymmetric angle(see picture) and all I could hope for was that they might find a lovely hole in the breeze out on the western side of the course.

Out to starboard Truant was also sailing deep, though as the breeze moved a little further into the west they chose to cross our bow and go for speed rather than shortest distance. The OOD on the beach had quite early on this leg informed us that he was shortening course. Steve on Truant had debated this with him, but the shortened course stood, though I think we should have been told of his intentions before we'd started the downwind leg. We were going to be home very early indeed. Willing Barda to go a bit faster we were watching Sharkbite out to the west waiting for their gybe, and when it came they really poured on the speed. Damn and blast that asymmetric!

We too pulled off a sweet little gybe and picked up some pace going for the east mark which was now the finish line ODM. Sharkbite hammered across well in front, followed by Truant and then ourselves.

Not too bad I thought. However what I hadn't picked up on was that behind us the little Olivia Anne V1 (pictured sneaking below Mean Feeling) had been sailing really well and apparently had gone like a train downwind, and when the IRC results were done she had taken down all our trousers to claim the win - well done!

So that leaves Barda and Sharkbite now sharing the IRC lead on equal points. Next week I know that Tim is on the beach as OOD so Sharkbite will be awarded average points. Barda however, weather permitting, will be sailing, but with a rather unusual crew. Absolutely everybody is off apart from me, but I have been offered help from the SWAGS, which will be rather interesting!

Click here for results on the SYC website

Not the BVI Regatta, or 'Who's going to be spooned then?"

Last Summer I was awarded a rather shabby wooden spoon at the SYC official club prize giving for coming last in the three boat Datca Race in Turkey. Dave won the race and Rob came second. I gave up, dropped the sails a few miles off the island of Simi, and with the family retired for a swim. I have been reminded of this triumph of crew over skipper ever since. In fact Rob has been know to hop from foot to foot with glee recounting his great victory. Well I think that after reviewing the results coming in from the 2009 BVI Spring Regatta (http://www.bvispringregatta.org) where they are racing Tony Watson's O'Day 40 'Glass Slipper', the spoon for 2009 will be a shared prize.

Where did the boys come I hear you ask? Well let's be polite and say they must have had a very good view of the fleet all of the time, and I do mean ALL of the fleet, though some may have disappeared over the distant horizon.

Sussex Yacht Club Spring Series 2009. Race Five - 5 April

All week I had been looking at the forecast hoping that our run of wonderful spring weather would hold for the 5th race in this 7 race Sussex Yacht Club series. With Daff, Nigel, Jason and Rob all away from Barda, crew were going to prove rather thin on the ground, however I understood that during the now infamous SWAG Barcelona trip, Susie had hijacked Jill Stevenson from Sharkbite to do the foredeck.

Of course Sharkbite is our big competition in this series and Tim, the Sharkbite skipper was also OOD today and had grudgingly given permission or Jill to boat tart it over to Barda, just as long as we didn't win. Since when did Jill get aboard any boat without the intention of winning?

Jill at the pointy end was joined of course by Susie in some rather natty tangerine salopettes at the mast, and Maggie who came to keep the middle of the boat in order. Needing someone small and agile to look after the runners I convinced son Rob to take a break from his exam revision and get out of bed early on a Sunday (though he did pretend to still be in bed for the first half of the race - see picture).

Elaine also volunteered to boost the female contingent, but had to cry off at the last minute, as did Simon. This left the mainsheet position empty, but lucky for me Ella was out of the water for some bottom work (ooh err), which meant that Doug was available and willing again... What a great line up!

After leaving Shoreham Port with the 10.00 lock out we joined the fleet milling around in the sunshine with a light SE breeze off the beach, with Doug enjoying some stick time (picture). Shooting the breeze showed it fairly steady on 120 degrees and Tim Cork soon revealed his SYC workout plan over VHF channel 37. Being used to smaller boat, Tim had every intention of keeping us busy and revealed a course with lots of short legs and corners.

The start line was outrageously biased so it seemed as if every one of the 15 boats wanted to be in the same place as Barda. With thirty seconds to go the sheets were wound on and Barda leant on the breeze, going for the line close to the ODM. To windward Moonlight Saunter was crowding in and Doug pointed out in no uncertain manner that David had no water, but I failed to shut the door on them and they scraped through the gap. Just below me was J/24 Major Clanger who was being pushed up by HOD 35 Truant. Going for height, Barda pushed out in front of Moonlight Saunter, who had to dip away below us footing off for speed. As usual we were chasing Yesitis and Nigel had got her away to a great start and was charging east. Electing to carry on pointing high and make the first mark without tacking we paid with lower boat speed past the harbour entrance and rounded mark 6 behind Truant, Moonlight Saunter and Yesitis.

This leg out to mark 1 was a fetch and Barda slowly clawed back some ground on Yesitis (see picture), who had lost out a little with a luffing match against Moonlight Saunter, who won through to get around mark one in 2nd place after Truant, who was romping away towards the East mark close to the beach. Around Mark One Barda pulled of a clean clean gybe-set and we ducked away sailing deep below both Yesitis and Moonlight Saunter. Approaching the East mark Jill suggested we go for a windward drop, which was an inspired idea. Maggie managed to unbolt the hatch sliders, pulling it back to create a mid-ship opening straight down to the saloon and with some perfect fuss-free boat handling the girls dropped the kite, whilst in the cockpit Doug and I got very busy hardening up as we rounded the mark, coming out of the turn looking just above the transoms of Yesitis and distant Truant heading for the nearby East mark.

The East mark rounding was another gybe set, and with a minor hiccup that was quickly fixed, we quickly had the kite up and pulling back towards the West mark, where we windward dropped again, rounding in amongst the slower boats who were now racing in effect a lap behind us. This was all really exciting stuff and with a freshening breeze we hardened up for the East mark yet again. Truant got round well in front of us and I had Rob down on the leeward side of Barda keeping an eye on Yesitis. Rob called that Yesitis had tacked and I assumed they were going to sail up and tack on our track to cover us with bad air. Yesitis popped out from behind the fore stay into my view, but rather than tack they just kept on heading south... what were they doing? Slowly it dawned on me, Nigel had missed out the East mark! Rob hung off the protest flag and with some help from Dad we had it fluttering red in the building breeze as we hollered "Protest" at Yesitis, beating out to sea oblivious to the problem in their wake.

Pressing on to the East mark we tacked round and chased after Yesitis, who were now effectively out of the game. At the top mark 1 we rounded and up went the kite for the last time, pushing down the bow as the best wind of the day took us down to the Lancing Line finish. Sailing dead down wind with occasional forays in to the lee, this leg was all sunshine and smiles to a 2nd place on the water behind Truant - see picture including a nice overhead of Doug's head.

However looking behind showed both Kingfisher and Mean Feeling going very well indeed and there was no way to predict the final result until the times had been calculated.

Back at the club it was revealed that Neil Prescott, on his very happy 50th birthday had steered Kingfisher to a well deserved IRC victory, pushing Barda into 2nd place, which means we are by a gnats whisker still leading the IRC series. Harry, who had been waiting for Mum Susie to get back was as always hugely impressed and laid claim to my sunnies (see the very scary picture right, which is not half as scary as Harry waving his snott and dribble soaked 'blanky' comforter around - it just has to go over the side on his 4th birthday!)

Getting this result with none of my regular crew aboard other than Maggie was a welcome surprise and I have to say a very big thanks to Doug, Jill, Maggie and Susie, oh and also to Rob who managed to wake up in the end. Thanks!

Of course this now begs the question as to whether the rabble who usually yell themselves around the deck of Barda should be allowed back on after their BVI farrago ....we shall see.

Sussex Yacht Club Spring Series 2009. Race Six - 19 April

The penultimate start of the Sussex Yacht Club Spring Series and we are again basking in the growing warmth of the Spring sunshine. Amazing.... exactly as the met boffins predicted, the sun came out as the overnight blustery winds dropped down to a playful force three puppy, bouncing around with shifts and gusts.

I'd spent Saturday beavering away on the boat, tweaking this, lubing that and generally looking for any problems. The previous week whilst sponging out rainwater from the shallow bilges I'd found a large stainless bolt head that seemed to have been sheared from its shaft, which was something of a worry. Determined to find where it came from, out came all the cushions and down in a dark corner I found the problem - one the six bolts fixing the lower portside chainplates to the main bulkhead had sheared off. It's a simple fix and I think the head was fatigued by not being seated squarely rather than by an overload, however I'll be replacing them all on both sides as a precaution.

The boys were back from the BVI Regatta and Barda was fully crewed up with myself, Daff, Jason, Maggie Nigel, Rob and Susie. With seven-up the pastie bill is a bit high, but we were going to be able to carry the #2 even in the gusts and I was looking forwards to lively tussle with Sharkbite, who even before the start were hooning around planing with their asymmetric kite. We had a very slender lead on Sharkbite for the series, so with two races to go we really needed a win and with today's NW wind providing relatively flat water it was going to be very hard indeed. The picture above is of Neil Prescott and Kingfisher who is now in the invidious position of looking at 3rd place IRC or winning the PY - which will it be Neil?

David Nunn had left 'Escape' on her mooring today to be OOD ashore and we hear the start team were well settled with deck chair comfort at the top of the shingle beach. David announced on VHF that we were to sail SYC standard course number 9 which gave us a reachy-runny 12.3 miles. That SB3 was going to fly, not to mention the J/105 BoJangles with Derek's huge asymmetric... oh and let's not forget the waterline length advantage of the larger boats. We were going to have to get a clean start and sail our socks off to get a keeper result today. Picture above shows team Barda working out some pre-race tactics with (from the left) Jason, Daff on coachroof, Nigel down below, Maggie standing, Susie and Rob, which leaves me at the back clutching the camera.

There was a lot of bias on the line, but with the breeze seeming fairly constant at 35 degrees and wishing to stay out of the ebbing tide we decided to start in towards the beach on a close fetch for the harbour entrance and then to mark 6. We were wiggling around trying to slow for the line with seconds to go when the recall came suggesting three boats were OCS and we knew Barda was one of them. I immediately went for the turn back and Daff leapt back for the runners.... CRACKCRUNCHGRRRGG! Searching inshore for the horrible crunching noises of splintering boat wasn't hard. Sharkbite was pinned under the bow of Moonlight Saunter with the Feeling's forestay fitting snapping through their boom and main as the Feeling powered on, driving the SB3 down into the water. How nobody was seriously hurt I have no idea, but Sharkbite bobbed out in Moonlight's wake looking very much the worse for wear but with everybody aboard moving.

By now we were back over the line and having correctly started could power up after the fleet, hailing Sharkbite as we went by to get a thumbs up that they were OK. Clearing the incident from my mind we tried to settle the boat down and avoid getting sucked into the black hole of a wind shadow coming off of Moonlight Saunter ahead. Ghylly was there too and we wiggled past and upwind of her, also keeping an eye on Yesitis which was a definite threat. The boats that had elected to start at the seaward end of the line were now converging, with BoJangles having a clear overlap on us. Ella had charged away at the start and was round #6 by a country mile, followed by Moonlight Saunter. BoJangles may have had rights on Barda, but we managed to coax enough power to wiggle over the top of them and round the mark, wide but ahead.

Jason had already cleared the boat ready to hoist our large running kite, and with Susie sweating the halyard at the mast, up it went to set clear and fast as we looked ahead for mark 4, though it was apparent that the breeze had shifted East and rather than being dead downwind, this leg was going to be increasingly reachy. Moonlight were heading uptide quite a lot higher than us as Barda trimmed to sit on the rhumb line. BoJangles soon had that big yellow kite straining and pulled level, though Ella way ahead and in the lead were sailing very low and had to drop their kite and white-sail it up to the starboard rounding of mark 4, still in the lead.

We ran past mark 4 with a late gybe onto starboard with all eyes aboard searching for mark number 3. The GPS wasn't a lot of help and either this mark has moved or I have plumbed in the wrong co-ordinates. Anyway, by now BoJangles had skipped past Ella and we came up with an early kite drop in the freshening breeze to round number three to starboard, just over a boat length behind Ella. With the main flattened right off and feathering Barda through the gusts we tried to climb as high as we could but had to tack early for clear air.

At this point the starboard Genoa car flew off the end of the track, which was my fault setting up the towline length wrong when I upgraded the tackle. Daff and Nigel jumped down to help get it back together, but then we had a riding turn as Rob tried to get the genoa sheeted home. With Yesitis now breathing down our necks I was a bit unfair to Rob at this point and for that I apologise, but Nigel also dicked around trying to sort out the mess. The best way on Barda is to grab a mooring line, attach it to the clew of the sail, thread it through the genoa car and back to the leeward runner winch, so that the strain can be taken up and the sail trimmed enabling the boat to point high and fast as the problem is resolved. By the time Nigel had got things straight and Jason had stopped shouting, Yestis has closed right up on us and we had to really work hard to stay out in front, eventually getting around mark 1 in second place about 50 meters behind BoJangles.

It was during this leg that Jason lost his prized BVI cap, which blew off his not inconsiderable bonce and back into our wake. It had been tied onto his jacket with some cord, so we'd better start checking all his knots again!

Maggie had spent a very uncomfortable 10 minutes being bounced around in the cabin re-packing the large kite ready for this leg, which all went to waste as we'd worked out during the last minutes of the beat that the angles were all wrong. The next leg West to mark 2, formerly known as 'Beechams' was close to three miles away and was going to be a blustery reach. Maggie dived down below again to dig out our smaller reaching kite and Jason managed to get it all clipped on in time for a quick hoist after the bear-away around mark 1. With all the weight on the rail and the kicker eased Barda accelerated as we came up on course, still chasing after BoJangles. With the building breeze she picked up her skirts and we spent almost the entire leg over 10 knots - Nigel was struggling to trim with the big sheet loads even with Daff on the winch. In fact when we did slow a little down to 9 knots it felt decidedly pedestrian. Towards the end I was having to foot off lower and lower to keep Barda on her feet, with a couple of minor round-ups when she got away from me. Susie did admit to getting a bit scared at this point but she'll soon learn that this is all part of the game!

BoJangles had beaten us to mark number 2 by about three minutes, but as we turned East towards home we flattened everything off, hiked hard and started making the most of every gust, feathering high as the power came through. Gradually we climbed up on BoJangles, closing the gap all the time we worked along the shore towards the West mark off the beach, which we needed to leave to Starboard before sprinting for the finishing line. Eventually Derek tacked BoJangles and after a few seconds we also tacked inshore. However as hard as we tried, even after getting the tack for the line in first, I just couldn't get it all back and BoJangles clinched line honours with Barda following over the line some 40 seconds later.

Looking back we seemed to have pulled away from the rest of the fleet by quite a distance and to later learn that we'd won both IRC and PY divisions was rewarding for all of us. However I have to recognise that our big fight would have been with Sharkbite and I'm saddened that she'll be out of the running for a while.

Sussex Yacht Club Spring Series 2009. Race Seven - 26 April

I spent saturday fiddling around on the boat again, fitting some new Genoa cars that I was lucky enough to get for a song on eBay. Our old port side car was close to failing, and as well as fitting the new cars there's now an extra purchase to the car-tow system which means it is now much easier to adjust the headsail lead position.

After giving such a sterling Spring Series performance I also treated the crew with some toe-rail covers, made by ripping a longitudinal slot down some UPVC overflow piping. By opening the resulting slot and pushing the pipe down onto the toe-rail extrusion these DIY covers snap into place, secured with some cable ties, and help prevent thighs becoming painfully bruised whilst hiking out.

We'd been to Phil's barbecue on Saturday night where team Barda, friends and SWAGS noshed everything poor Phil could grill. One of the girls, who shall remain nameless here (and not a regular SWAG), was doing a brain numbing impression of a sailors swearing parrot on speed, which after a while drove this old fart off in search of an early night, thanking my lucky stars that I'm married a sane woman.

And so to Sunday, leaping out of bed nice and early so I can review the forecast, enjoy some toast and a cup of tea with sleepy-head Karen. With the car loaded I went round to collect Rob, but with no movement at his house I realised I'd cocked up my timings and had arrived an hour early and Rob was still sleeping off his extended parrot experience. Doh! Back home for more tea and toast then before finally getting to the boat.

Jason had also got the start time wrong, and had driven like a loon to catch the boat after dropping partner Barbara off to go and watch her son Rob do the London Marathon. Rob Cocker was running for the Macmillan Cancer Support and made it with a time 3:37:37 which was an amazing effort. You can still sponsor him even after the event by clicking here >>

Anyway, back to the sailing! Team Barda seems to have settled into a really good core squad with myself (thats me in the picture), Daf, Jason, Maggie and Nigel, with Susie also taking her place at the mast whilst son Harry is away on hols with his Grandparents. After fannying around leaning Barda over and getting underneath with the scrubber, we missed the first lock out, but that did mean a bit more time for tea and croissants (I seemed to have eaten an awful lot this morning). General comment on the bottom of the boat is 'wow!' We'd switched anti-foul from International VC Offshore this season to try Blakes Hard Racing and so far it's proving really good. This anti-foul rollered on white rather than grey and after nearly 2 months in the canal since launch there is only the slightest trace of slime build up. With my buggered lung I can't dive at the moment for a proper look, but I am wondering if there's any point in spending a £150 to lift and scrub her before the Royal Escape.

Once through the locks up went the main and we dodged through hordes of dinghies, with Fireballs, Lasers and Wayfarers tacking all over the place. Outside the entrance there were sails of all shapes and sizes everywhere, with it seems all of Sussex afloat and making the most of yet another marvellous spring day. The wind was sitting pretty much at 180 degrees, shifting around a bit but fairly steady within the F2 range and John Wilson and his team from the Swan 'Flyover' were on the beach cooking up a course that covered close to 10 miles, including just about every point of sailing and some interesting corners.

From the Lancing Line we were to fetch up to the east mark before a beat out to mark 1. The fleet seemed to have decided that the seaward side of the line was the favoured end (the picture above shows all the fleet to windward of Barda with Truant leading the pack). Not wishing to follow the crowd and dine on dirty air, we reasoned that with so much bias on the line it was shorter from closer inshore and we'd have a slightly hotter angle in the light breeze. Perhaps the spring tides encouraged the others to start out to sea, but even though we were a bit late over the line Barda revelled in the inshore space and we managed to get around the east mark in first place, with Steve Thomas and his HOD 35 really close behind.

Up the beat we went, with Truant eventually getting past us and with Derek and BoJangles harrying us from a few lengths back. The wind was shifting around and I was concentrating on climbing up to windward as fast as we could. Truant tacked away and we couldn't work out where Steve was going... until is dawned on us that we were looking at the wrong mark. Nooooo! Having over-stood mark 1 by four or five minutes it looked like I'd cooked our collective goose, but after bearing away towards Truants transom we still managed to get round and bear away the run down to 6 just before Derek and BoJangles.

Truant was around 200 metres out in front as we hoisted the running kite and headed inshore. Derek and BoJangles went for a hotter asymmetric angle to the east and we both noticed that the spring tide had just started to ebb west. With the breeze becoming a little sulky Nigel and Rob were working hard to keep the kite pulling but even their considerable efforts and a couple of snappy gybes were only delivering 3-4 knots of boatspeed and we made no impression on Truant's lead. Close to the end of this leg we were on the starboard gybe and getting ready for the drop when BoJangles came in on port and ducked behind us, letting Barda keep her 2nd place around number 6, leaving it to starboard and hardening up for the beat out to distant number 4.

Even with our largest headsail up we were hardly overpowered up this light air beat and with Nigel keeping an eagle eye for me on the compass we tried to make the most of very shift, and we seemed to make a few boat lengths on BoJangles behind, but not on Truant which was extending her lead. Just by the mark a family had anchored their motor boat and were hauling mackerel out at a prodigious rate, and by the sounds of the kids yelling they were having a great time. Not quite so great was that they were fishing right where I needed to tack for the mark, but being nice fellows we popped in a couple of extra tacks and still made it around in front of BoJangles.

Jason and Nigel had been watching the angles develop up the beat and Jason had already got the code zero clipped on as we left number 4 to starboard and pointed at number 3. Our code zero is in a fluorescent lime so garish that you need sun glasses to trim it, but at this angle and in these light airs it is a fast sail and we were soon clipping along at 5-6 knots. Derek was just managing to keep his asymmetric pulling but we were matching him for speed and sailing higher, though Steve on Truant far away in the lead had dropped his zero and reverted to his number 1 genoa which he later told me was faster.

Pictured is Neil and Anne-Marie's 'Kingfisher' which clinched a first in PY and 3rd overall under IRC.

Approaching mark number 3 Barda became very busy with the team unfurling the genoa inside the code zero, which was then tripped and retrieved over the top of the boom and down into the hatch. With the code zero flown so close to the wind, when it is dropped it tends to fly down the boat and can end up in the water, but by 'letter-boxing' the sail over the boom it keeps it high and dry. We left number three close to starboard and gybed, with an immediate hoist of our 65m2 lightweight running kite. BoJangles rounded with a straightforward gybe just behind and immediately pushed up to the east, sailing a hotter angle. With the tide now ripping at 1-1.5 knots to the west, we to pushed east and crabbed out way down the stream towards the east mark. This leg in the lightest winds of the race were painful and it seemed to take forever to pick out the east mark from amongst the dinghies who were sailing around their own course laid right across our track.

Truant could be seen struggling to keep their kite sailing high enough to make the mark, but got around a country mile in front of us, and with some disappointment we watched BoJangles come back in from the east side of the course to round in front of us as well. Had they done enough to beat us? Having sailed the rhumb line all the way, Barda gybed round the east mark and turned for the line, heading further inshore to try and sail the shortest distance possible. The breeze was toying with us and although this was the shortest leg it seemed to take an age before OOD John announced "Barda Finished" on the VHF.

Well we already knew we had enough points in the bag to have won the Spring Series IRC division overall, but had we done enough today? Back at the club house and with a pint of the finest Sussex ale in hand we learnt the answer was no - Truant had taken the bullet, but Barda had scored another 2nd place, beating BoJangles into third by just 3 seconds! (that's Bojangles pictured above).

So with the Spring Series finished what's next? Well we're not doing either the Solent Rally or the Brighton Regatta next weekend as we all have stacks of things to do at home, but Susie and Maggie have agreed to being joint Lady Helm on 10 May which should be fun, and then there's the Talla Hina race on Saturday 16 May which will take us to Brighton Marina for the PHAB event on Sunday 17 May, when we'll be part of the team introducing handicapped sailors to sailing, which should also make a very pleasant and rewarding change from the racing.

And then there's the big one on May 22. The Royal Escape. Be there!

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